


Nuvole Bianche

by WaferBiscuits



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Bittersweet, Established Relationship, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Neurodivergent Saihara Shuichi, Non-Verbal, One Shot, Overstimulation, Sensory Overload, Stimming, speedwrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29794437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaferBiscuits/pseuds/WaferBiscuits
Summary: Shuichi experiences sensory overload in the middle of a busy grocery store. Thankfully, his partner is there to help.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 47





	Nuvole Bianche

“You think we should get unsweetened this time?”

Shuichi doesn’t look up. He’ll start to feel dizzy if he does. The lights are a lot more bearable when he’s looking at the floor. The tiling is warped and coated in scuffs and smudges. He counts the markings in each tile as he mumbles something like agreement.

He’s holding Kaede’s hand, but he has to let go. Her palm is sweaty and makes gripping unpleasant.

“Shu? You okay?” Kaede’s voice is too soft and gets lost in the undertow of all of the other sounds. Bad pop music. Squealing shopping carts. The din of other people talking. A crying child.

He closes his eyes and breathes. One. Two. Three. But it’s all wrong. His lungs have somehow shrunk to half of their proper size. Any breath he takes doesn’t feel like it’ll be enough to keep him alive.

Kaede is tugging at his arm, urging him to walk. She’s saying something. Shuichi can’t even begin to untangle the words, but the tone is gentle. Warm. Encouraging.

So Shuichi walks. He closes his eyes because seeing the tiles pass by makes him feel nauseous to the point where he can taste bile. He wants to tell Kaede this, that he’s teetering the line of vomiting in the middle of a grocery store, but he can’t talk. His throat’s closed up and he’s certain that hearing his own voice louder than anything else will make him go over the edge into a meltdown.

His shoe hits something and he trips. He barely registers the harsh cry that his own mouth makes. Everything is sizzling. His clothes feel itchy.

Kaede doesn’t let him fall. She puts out her arm, catches him by the chest, and pulls him back to his feet. At least, that’s what Shuichi assumes. He doesn’t want to open his eyes. He’s still anxious that he might throw up if he does.

He feels pressure on the small of his back, a hand pushing him to keep walking. So he walks.

Something changes. There’s a bright light that makes the backs of his eyelids go red. Shuichi squeezes his eyes shut tighter and keeps his head down. His skull feels too small. The air smells different. It’s hotter.

It’s quieter. The sounds aren’t echoing as badly, but there’s new ones. Car engines. Tires grinding on asphalt. The _whoosh whoosh_ drone of faraway vehicles.

But it’s still quieter. Kaede is speaking. Her voice is noise, but it’s noise that Shuichi can parse out if he concentrates. He tries to focus. His fingers clutch his pant legs and fidget with the seams.

“Sweetheart, we’re here. Stop for me.” Hands take Shuichi’s wrists. The grip is light and loose. “One second.”

Shuichi stops, but that just makes the tingly shooting jolts going through his body that much worse. Standing still is making his heart race. He wrenches his hands from Kaede’s weak grasp and holds them up against his chest to start flapping.

He hears the click of a door opening and the chime of the car’s indicator. It’s loud and makes Shuichi tense up.

“I’m sorry, Shuichi. It’ll stop in a second, I promise.” Kaede is right next to him. Stimming helps her voice come in clearer. “You just need to get inside and sit down. Then I’ll shut the door, okay?”

Shuichi takes a moment to think, then nods. He opens his eyes just long enough to orient himself and slip inside the car. The door shuts behind him.

Sitting in the enclosed space of the car brings Shuichi an almost immediate sense of relief, if only because he can bounce his legs in tandem with flapping his hands.

He flinches when the driver’s side door opens.

“It’s just me, Shu.” Kaede. “One more door slam in one, two, three.”

The door shuts. Shuichi doesn’t need to look to know Kaede is next to him. He keeps his eyes closed and tries to focus on his breathing. It’s a little easier when there’s not as much sound.

“Is touching okay right now, sweetheart?” Kaede asks. Her voice is barely above a whisper, and Shuichi is beyond grateful for that. “Or would that be too much?”

Shuichi doesn’t know if he’s ready to talk yet. Reluctantly, he stops shaking his hands to take a notepad and golf pencil from his pants’ pocket. He always carries one for investigative work.

He writes quickly with his eyes half-open and hands the pad to Kaede.

_‘Touch would be too much right now – I’m so sorry’_

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about, Shuichi. It happens. I’m just sorry that it does, you know?”

Shuichi reaches out for the pad and feels it brush against his palm. He scribbles on it for a little longer this time before handing it back. He feels tears start to prick at the corners of his eyes and he bounces his legs harder, flaps faster.

‘ _I’m still sorry, because I tried to push myself and I knew going in that it would be crowded but I still did it and I still ended up being embarrassing’_

Kaede is quiet, and that only makes Shuichi feel self-conscious and scared. He feels an uncomfortable wetness on his cheeks and he can’t stop his hands from flapping long enough to wipe the tears away.

“Shuichi,” Kaede finally speaks, and Shuichi can’t see her but he can hear how the cadence of her voice is lower, like it’s being held back, like she’s crying too. “I will never, ever be embarrassed by you. Ever. I love you so much, and maybe you did push yourself, but that’s not a bad thing. You still tried.” She pauses for a moment, like she’s parsing her words. “I’m really proud of you. I don’t want that to come off as patronizing.”

Shuichi blindly reaches for the pad and takes it again to cross out his previous sentences and turn the page to write more. Crying makes doing deep breathing hard, but he tries anyway. Deep shuddering gasps.

He hands the notepad back to Kaede.

‘ _It’s not patronizing coming from you. I love you, too. Thank you for taking me back here. It’s getting better.’_

“Of course.” Kaede sniffs. “Would music help? Maybe some Ludovico Einaudi? I think that’s the CD I’ve got in the drive, anyway.” She chuckles. It comes out more as a half-cry, half-laugh.

Shuichi opens his eyes and looks at her, sees her smile at him. He feels warm and safe, unjudged and loved as he nods to the rhythm of his shaking hands.

“Yes,” he croaks, almost too softly.

Kaede’s answering grin is bright enough to make Shuichi want to cry harder.

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of a speed write - comments and kudos make my day and sealed tight in my heart. 💜


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